WESTERN WELLNESS: HANDLING STRESS

It’s no secret that college students deal with a lot of stress on a daily basis.

Recently, KOMO News did an article showing how adult coloring books help people of all ages deal with stress.

Coloring books can help adults stay focused on one thing at a time and not let their stressors bother them, according to psychologist Dr. Joseph Rock. He mentioned that the designs in adult coloring books are created to be more intricate to help keep the brain engaged.

In the 2015 National College Health Assessment, 85 percent of students said they felt overwhelmed by all of their responsibilities at least once and 30 percent said stress negatively impacted their academic performance.

Western currently has 15,332 students, meaning that based on those statistics, 13,032 students have felt overwhelmed at least once since starting college.

Not only is college stressful within itself, some degrees cause more stress than others. In a study done by professor Kevin Rask, mathematics, economics, psychology and biology were found to be the hardest majors. In addition, some of the hardest classes, like organic chemistry and molecular biology, are among the most common courses students within STEM fields need to complete.

There are many other ways that students can deal with stress. Getting enough sleep, journaling and limiting caffeine are just a few.

A common aspect of stress is cognitive distortions, which are negative thoughts. To beat these distortions, students need to challenge the way they think about themselves by questioning what evidence they have to support negative claims.

Another way to handle stress is to visit the counseling center. To make an appointment, students can visit the center in Old Main 540 or call (360)650-3164.

What do you do to relieve stress? Let The Western Front know in the comments.